The present invention relates to an apparatus for isolating histological sections produced with a microtome. The histological sections are producible in such a way that a histological section that is produced, and is then as a rule positioned on the blade holder, is connected to a previously produced histological section to form a section strip. The present invention further relates to a microtome and to a method for isolated histological sections.
Microtomes have been known for a long time in the existing art. With them, thin histological sections are produced from tissue samples embedded in an embedding medium, for example paraffin. Each histological section is applied onto a specimen slide, provided a histological section is qualified as usable. The remaining histological sections are usually disposed of as sectioning waste. The specimen slides, with the histological sections applied thereonto, are usually subjected to a further treatment, the histological sections being stained using staining methods and ultimately observed with a microscope.
Section strips usually occur during the sectioning operation; these are formed because a histological section, directly after it is produced, is positioned on the blade holder. When a further histological section is produced, it is in that context likewise moved onto the blade holder, with the result that the previously produced histological section is moved by the further histological section away from the blade of the microtome. Because the further histological section and the previously produced histological section are in contact with one another at their respective edge regions, the thin histological sections adhere to one another and thus form a section strip. This operation is repeated analogously as further histological sections are produced, so that a section strip having multiple histological sections can be formed. Before a suitable histological section can be transferred onto a specimen slide, the section strip must be split up. Assuming that the suitable histological section is the last section that was produced, the previously produced histological section, or all the previously produced histological sections of that section strip, must be separated from the suitable histological section in order to isolate the suitable histological section. This is usually carried out manually by the microtome operator, using a forceps or a paintbrush. Individual histological sections can easily be damaged during this separation operation. This working step accordingly requires a great deal of experience and skill on the part of the microtome operator. The apparatus known from the existing art for isolating histological sections from a section strip thus represents a manually actuated paintbrush or forceps.